NANTUCKET : ITS NAME. 223 



together with the trailing for bluefish to and from the 

 island makes the trip a very enjoyable one. Black and 

 shoal duck, coot, and brant abound here in the spring. 



Nantucket : Its Name. 



Nantucket is doubtless an Indian word, but its mean- 

 ing is unknown. The compiler, while engaged upon 

 this work, being desirous of obtaining some light upon 

 the subject, sent a communication to one of the papers 

 published in the town, requesting that those interested 

 in the matter would give him their views as to whether 

 this island was really discovered and named by that 

 daring navigator, Bjorne Herjulfson, or whether the 

 name was given to the island by the Indians. 



Only one reply was received to the communication, 

 which was as follows, and appeared in the columns of 

 the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror, of Nov. 5, 1881: 



" An article appeared in your issue of the 8th ult., 

 signed ' An Earnest Inquirer,' asking for information 

 in regard to the origin of the name of Nantucket and 

 its meaning. I think that will bo a difficult thing to 

 answer. For myself I think it is of Indian, rather 

 than Norse origin. By the map-makers of the seven- 

 teenth and eighteenth centuries its spelling is varied 

 in detail, though similar in a general way. It is called 

 Nantocket (1703), Nantoe, Neutocket, Natacei, Nan- 

 tuket (1746), Nantucket (Huske), Nantukket (De la 

 Tour). On De Laet's map, 1630, the island name is 

 Natocke.* In correspondence with a gentleman who 



* Also iri 1641 Nantican (Hough's book, compiled from deeds 

 in Secretary of State's office, Albany, N. Y.), and Nauticon. 

 (Macy's History, page 17). 



